Computational Phonology – Part I: Foundations

Abstract Computational phonology approaches the study of sound patterns in the world's languages from a computational perspective. This article explains this perspective and its relevance to phonology. A restrictive, universal property of phonological patterns – they are regular – is established, and the hypothesis that they are subregular is presented. This article is intended primarily for phonologists who are curious about computational phonology, but do not have a rigorous background in mathematics or computation. However, it is also informative for readers with a background in computation and the basics of phonology, and who are curious about what computational analysis offers phonological theory.